Anatomical Evidence: Will It Settle the G-Spot Debate?

Where’s the evidence?? Despite a host of women having loudly, unapologetically, and consistently claimed that “yes, Virginia, there is a G spot,” many skeptics have asked for proof. Ever since the 1982 publication of The G Spot detailed an erogenous zone present in some women, lovers have been trying to find this hidden treasure. Researchers like Ernst Grafenberg, for whom it’s named, have been attempting to explain or prove its existence since at least 1944.

Thus, you can imagine the frenzy that’s about to ensue given that Adam Ostrzenski, MD, PhD may have uncovered proof that this Holy Grail of hot spots is an actual part of the female body. According to an upcoming issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, the G spot does, indeed, have an anatomic existence.

In dissecting the layers of the anterior vaginal wall of an 83-year-old cadaver, Ostrzenski uncovered a well-defined sac structure, with three distinct regions, on the dorsal (back) perineal membrane. It was located 16.5 mm up from the urethral meatus, the opening of the urethra, above the vaginal opening.

Amazing. Promising. But should we be rejoicing that this lauded trove of female sexual pleasuring has finally been confirmed?? After all, why would one dead body suddenly provide ample, let alone representative, evidence of one of the most controversial aspects of female anatomy?

It would be wise for academics, researchers, journalists and lay people everywhere to take this finding with a grain of salt, especially given that this effort comes on the heels of another study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine. It concluded that, “objective measures have failed to provide strong and consistent evidence for the existence of an anatomical site that could be related to the famed G-spot.”

This review of the literature of peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1950 and 2011, using the key words “G-spot,” “Grafenberg spot,” “vaginal innervation,” “female orgasm,” “female erogenous zone,” and “female ejaculation” involved looking at dozens of trials that sought to confirm the existence of the G-spot. Investigators examined over 60 years of research utilizing surveys, pathologic specimens, imaging modalities and biochemical markers, and no structure of the elusive area had been identified to date.

So why would Ostrzenski be able to produce evidence that the G spot is anatomically distinct? This is not to say that women – as well as a number of sexologists – everywhere don’t hope that he’s not right. Between having her sexuality controlled, being labeled sexually “pure” and frigid, and being made to feel that her G spot reactions are mythological, women have a lot riding on the confirmed physical existence of this entity.

As recently as 2010, a team of researchers at King’s College London published a study, also in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, claiming that the G spot was possibly a figment of women’s imaginations, one encouraged by the popular press and sexuality professionals.

In drawing upon a sample of over 1,800 women, their proof was that no pattern emerged between identical versus non-identical twins when participants were asked if they had a G spot. Hence, there could not be a gene at play (which would be shared by identical twins) in proving its existence.

Ultimately, it shouldn’t matter if the G spot can be proven or unproven if a number of women experience its wonderful sensations and lovely orgasms sans a scientific blessing. Having long been referred to as the “Sacred Gate” by Tantric sex practitioners, this area of the female body may simply be one of life’s great mysteries, one that we’re never meant to fully know.

Or perhaps knowing it and understanding it goes beyond anything you can dissect or measure. It’s an untouchable pathway to bliss and the cosmos, making it something so much more.